WOW Winter Wheels Breakfast Meet

SixWays Stadium, Worcester. 13th March 2022. By Simon & Janet Wright.

Everything is welcome : Ford, Honda Civic and Subaru

Wheels on Wednesday had their second Winter Wheels meeting of 2022 at Sixways Stadium, Worcester in the middle of March. Despite quite a lot of rain before the event, the Sunday morning remained dry and another massive turn-out of cars took advantage of the opportunity to use the winter location for another great meet. The variety of cars at these meetings means there is something for everybody to enjoy, from classic and modified right through to stunning supercars. There was a great line-up of high performance and sports cars across the rear of the car park and from across the World. Representing America was a bright yellow Chevrolet Corvette C7. This seventh generation model was built between 2014 and 2019 and powered by a 6.2 litre V8 engine which developed 455 bhp. The optional sports exhaust gave an additional 5 bhp. The front mounted engine drives the rear wheels through either a 7Speed manual or 6-Speed automatic gearbox with paddle gear-change. From 2015 the automatic gearbox was updated to an 8-Speed model. In 2015 a Supercharged version was available which produced 650 bhp. Parked next to it was probably America’s most famous

‘Pony Car’, a 2018 Ford Mustang. The Ford Mustang has been in continuous production since 1964 and is currently the longest-produced Ford Car named model. It is the fifth best selling Ford model brand ever. In 2018 Ford produced the 10-millionth Mustang. This is a sixth generation model, which first appeared in 2015. This resplendent red version is powered by the 5 litre Coyote V8 engine which produces 460 bhp and drives through either a 6-Speed Getrag manual or 10-Speed Ford automatic gearbox with paddle gear-change.

© Simon Wright © Janet Wright Ford Mustang

2007 Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder

© Janet Wright Triumph Herald 12/50

© Simon Wright © Janet Wright 2020 BMW X-Series SUV

Lincoln Continental

© Simon Wright © Janet Wright Ferrari F8

Plenty of hot food and coffee available Chevrolet Corvette Stingray Modified Morris Minor

© Simon Wright

Next in the lineup were a pair of Third generation Subaru Impreza WRX STi, representing Japan. The WRX Sti was powered by a 2 litre turbocharged engine which produced around 224 bhp. These were followed by the Italian pair of Ferrari. The first was a 2014 Ferrari 458 Speciale, in Ferrari scarlet with a blue and white stripe running across the centre of the bonnet and roof. A souped up version of the 458 Italia, the Spweciale is powered by a 4.5 litre V8 engine which produces 597 bhp, with 398 lb-ft or torque. The midengine powers the rear wheels through a 7-Speed dual clutch transmission system. It has a top speed of 199 mph and an accelerate from 0-62 mph in 3 seconds.

A black 458 Italia from 2004 uses the 4.5 litre V8 engine which produces 562 bhp. It has a listed top speed of © Janet Wright 202 mph and can accelerate from 0-62 mph in under 3.4 seconds. Back to American muscle cars next, with a new 2021 6,2 litre Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat coupe. Powered by a 6.2 litre supercharged V8 engine, which produces from 717 hp up to 807 hp. This gives it an acceleration time of 3.6 seconds from 0-60 mph.

© Janet Wright

© Simon Wright

Jensen Healey

© Simon Wright

1959 Ford prefect

© Janet Wright Datsun 240Z

© Simon Wright 2019 Lotus Exige

© Janet Wright

Mercedes Benz

© Janet Wright © Janet Wright Land Rover 4x4 lineup

© Janet Wright

© Simon Wright

Now it was the turn of the British pair. The sleek and elegant Lotus Esprit S4. This was built between 1994 and 2004. They were powered by either a 2 litre, 4 cylinder turbocharged engine or a 3.5 litre twin-turbo V8. The 2.2 litre engine produced 301 hp and had a top speed of 168 mph. The V8 version produced 500 hp but was detuned to produce 350 hp and had a top speed of 175 mph. Next to it was possible the most outlandish car on display, an Ariel Atom. It always looks unfinished, with no doors, no roof and minimal body panels. The large, tubular space frame chassis stands proudly on display. This light-weight rocket ship will out-perform most other supercars on the road or track day. Powered by a rear mounted 2 litre Honda turbocharged I-VTEC 16 valve, direct injection engine, which produces 320 bhp and 420Nm of torque. It drives the rear wheels through a 6Speed gearbox. It has a top speed of 162 mph and can accelerate from 0-60 mph in 2.8 seconds and 0-100 mph in just 6.8 seconds. Towering above the Ariel Atom was a 2016 Ferrari California, which compared to the Atom, looked like the perfect image of a modern Grand Tourer. The model was built between 2008 and 2017. Powered by a 4.3 litre, V8 engine which produced 453 hp and 358 lb-ft of torque. The mid-front engine layout drives a rear mounted gearbox gives a 47% front, 53% rear weight distribution. It also features an exclusive Ferrari designed F1-Trac system for traction control which gives variable power distribution to the rear wheels. This allows for greater

Ariel Atom

© Janet Wright

2005 Pontiac TransAm

© Simon Wright © Janet Wright 1969 Dodge A100 Sportsman van

stability and performance. This was also the first Ferrari model to offer Stop/Start technology. It has a top speed of 193 mph and could accelerate from 0-62 mph in 4 seconds. The Germans were also represented with the Mercedes Benz SL class sports car. This was a sixth generation model built between 2012 and 2020 and powered by a 3 litre v6 Biturbo engine which produced between 329 and 363 hp. It was also offered with either a semi-active adjustable damping suspension system or an active suspension system with Active Body Control (ABC) as an optional extra. It also had an electromechanical speedsensitive power steering system which allowed for variable steering ratio across the steering wheel range.

The second German car was the iconic 2019 Porsche 911 GT3 RS. The original 911 arrived in September 1964 and over the decades the car has developed, got bigger and more powerful. The original air-cooled flat 6 2 litre engine developed 130 hp. The 911 GT3 RS was launched in 2015 with a 4 litre engine, producing 493 hp and 339 lb-ft of torque. It can accelerate from 0-62 mph in 3.4 seconds and has a top speed of 199 mph. Several hot-rods had arrived together, sounding impressive as they drove in. The 41 Willys Coupe ProZac, was impressive in a two-tone green and grey colour screen. Under the bonnet was a 4.7 litre supercharged Ford small block V8 engine. Parked alongside was a Ford Popular van Hotrod. An Austin A40 Hotrod and a Ford Pickup truck completed the group.

© Simon Wright

© Janet Wright

© Simon Wright

© Simon Wright

1965 Ford Zodiac.

Looking like it was just out of the showroom, the Ford Zodiac was the upmarket version of the Ford Zephyr. This was the Mark III version that was built between 1962 and 1966. Although it was the upmarket Zephyr 6, it differed considerably from that model, adding limousine-type rear doors, narrower C-posts, sharper roofline and tail, plus a unique front grill incorporating four headlights instead of two. It also had exclusive bumper bars, more plush seats and upholstery, plus a different dashboard and fittings. There was the option of having two front seats or a single front bench seat. It was powered by a straight six cylinder, 2553cc engine, fed by a single carburettor, producing 109 bhp. This gave it a top speed of 100 mph and could accelerate from 0-60 mph in 13.4 seconds. At touring speed it would return 22.6 mpg.The new 4-Speed all synchromesh gearbox was operated by a column change. It had servo assisted front disc and rear drum brakes.

1984 Nissan 300ZX.

Also known as the Nissan Fairlady Z in Japan. The Z-cars began in 1970 with the Datsun 240Z. In 1984 the Datsun name was dropped in favour of the Nissan, and the third generation Z-car arrived in the form of the 300ZX. It was a conventional front engine, rear wheel drive sports coupe car that was produced between 1983 and 2000. It is powered by a 3 litre V6, with a turbocharged version available, as in the car below. It produced 225 hp. This gave it a top speed of 134 mph, with an acceleration time of 7.3 seconds for 0-60 mph & 20.1 seconds to 100 mph. The handling and acceleration was improved over previous models, using MacPherson strut and semitrailing arm independent suspension. The turbocharged model had 3-way electronically adjustable shock absorbers.

© Simon Wright

© Janet Wright

The Marcos is a rare enough car to see, but two together was a treat. The blue 1991 Marcos Mantula Supercharged GT400 has a 4.2 litre engine. The Mantula Coupe was introduced in 1983, based on the 3 litre, with revised styling and a Rover V8 engine with a 5-Speed gearbox. Independent rear suspension was introduced in 1989 along with the Ford Sierra 7 inch differential and rear disc brakes. This allowed for a full width boot and the battery was able to be relocated, along with the heater and air conditioning. It was mainly supplied in kit component form, hence the Q plate registration. It is reported that between 1983 and 1992 approximately 170 cars left the factory.

1992 Honda Beat.

A very unusual micro car is the Honda Beat, a rear wheel drive, mid-engined 2 seater roadster. It was built between 1991 and 1996 using a Pininfarina design. The 656cc 3 cylinder engine is transverse mounted and connected to a 5-Speed manual gearbox. It was built to take advantage of the tax-efficient kei car class in Japan and 33,600 were built, mostly in the first year of production, then sales fell dramatically. The small engine was naturally aspirated and was fitted with the Multi Throttle Responsive Engine Control (MTREC) system, with individual throttle bodies for each cylinder. The engine produced 63 bhp at 8,100 rpm with an electronically limited top speed of 84 mph. The car was well equipped with air conditioning, electric windows, 3-point seatbelts, sun visor, laminated windscreen and halogen headlights.

© Simon Wright © Simon Wright